Circuit-breaker.



L. T. RHOADES.

CIRCUIT BREAKER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-25. 1917,

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- 7U SHARK PLUG OR DISTRIBUTOR TR/zawdes.

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L. T.- RHOADES.

CIRCUIT BREAKER.

APPLICATION FILED sen-25. 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS '1. RHOADES, OF MONT CLARE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK COIL COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CIRCUIT-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, LEWIS T. Rnosnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mont Clare, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Breakers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved circuit breaker which employs both mechanical and magnetic means to interrupt the current through the induction coil for the purpose of rendering certain and reliable ignition at all times in any type of internal combustion engine.

It is a well known fact that when a magnetically operated vibrator or circuit breaker is employed in connection with a conventional spark coil, contact points very often fuse or weld together, seriouslyinterfering, or entirely preventing the production of a spark. WVhen a magnetically operated circuit breaker is employed in conjunction with a plurality of coils which apparatus is commonly called a master vibrator, this welding or sticking action is practically unavoidable as the work which the contact point is required to perform is proportionate to the number of coils used. Furthermore, in all magneto generators, in which no provision is made to cause the break of the contact points at a predetermined po sition in relation to the armatures position with the'permanent magnets, some form of magnetic circuit breaker is necessary to insure the positive breaking of the circuit.

Heretofore, a number of conventional spark coils with two windings employing a magnetic vibrator, or a high tension distributer operating a number of cylinders in connection with one vibrating coil has been employed. In either instance, the uncertainty of the vibrators action has always been a source of trouble.

One object of my improved circuit operating mechanism is to entirely eliminate all such uncertainty of action and to provide a construction which will have comparatively few parts, which will be operative to insure the production of an energetic spark at the proper time and at the proper position of the pistons travel at all times.

A further object of my invention is to produce a device in which the contact points are always separated except at the time when the coil is producing sparks. This is of great importance because it is well known that after an engine has stopped, the contact points are sometimes heated to a point suiticient to allow them to weld or stick together, making it diiiicult or impossible to start the engine upon which such devices are attached.

It will be understood that in my improved construction that not only are the contacts normally separated, allowing cooling of the same, but also that positive mechanical means operates to forcibly separate these contacts. I therefore desire to lay great stress on the importance of the combination of the magnetic and mechanical circuit breaker which I employ and the connection of the magnet to the mechanical circuit breaker.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art are aware that in untimed magnetos of the socalled inductor type, there are just as many neutral positions, at which no current is generated, as there are coils to produce waves of alternating current.

by employing a circuitbreaker constructed in accordance with my invention including a magnet, as the current starts to build up from zero, the magnet will cause the contacts to separate several times before the peak of the wave is reached, and also as the current recedes to zero and is again repeated in the next alternation, thus insuring proper ignition. Wher as, if a conventional makeand-break timer or distributer were attempted to be used, it is evident that should the break occur at any of the neutral positions, no spar r would be produced and ignition would fail.

The above mentioned objects and other advantageous ends which will be described hereinafter, I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved circuit breaker as adapted for use in connection with an internal combustion engine, the apparatus being in a position which it assumes when the sparks are being produced under the influence of an electromagnet.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1 with the wiring diagram omitted.

Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of similar nature to Fig. 2 with the wiring diagram luO omitted and showing the parts in the posi .tion which they assume when no sparks are being produced; the contacts having been separated by automatic and mechanical means.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of certain of the elements ofmy invention which are .movable to effect the make-andbreak of the circuit.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the electromagnet and the mounting thereof.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken ,on the line 77 of Fig. 1 showing a portion of the magnet support acting to prevent longitudinal movement of cam shaft which forms a part of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a metallic base having a suitable bearing 2 for a rotatable shaft 3 which, in the present instance. will be considered to be rotated by a movable part of an internal combustion engine and in which certain rotatable positions of this shaft will correspond to explosive positions of the cylinders within the engine. A cam 4 is secured to the upper end of the shaft 3 and has operating portions 4 thereon, there being as many portions 4 as there are cylinders to the engine. As illustrated, there are four portions 4 representing that the engine under consideration has four cylinders.

An electro-magnet 5 is mounted on an iron bracket 6. This bracket as clearly shown in Fig. 6, has a standard 7 which is connected to the rear end of the core 8 and is bent forwardly providing a plate 9. The forward end of this plate is positioned directly below the forward end of the core 8 and actually forms a second magnetic pole for assisting in attracting an armature as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

A post 10 in the form of a metallic angle,

has an extension 11 which rests upon the metallic base 1, and a standard section 12. The extension 11 has a hole 13 through which is inserted a pivot screw 14. This extension also has a slot 15 through which extends a screw 16. The slot 15 is preferably made concentric with the axis of the pivot screw 14 so that by loosening the screws 14 and 16, the post 10 can be moved into various pivotal positions and afterward secured to the base 1.

The standard 12 of the post 10 has secured to it by screws 17, a flat spring 18. To the free end of this spring 1 8, is secured a plat 19 which serves as an armature and has its end portion 20 in front of the electromagnet 5. A cleat 21 is secured to the front face of the plate 20 by a rivet 22. and this cleat has a lip 21 which is spaced in front of the plate 19 as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 5. 7

' A on t arm 23, prefe ab y m de of fia spring steel, has its end 24 secured to the spring 8 and its opposite end 25 adapted to vibrate between the lip 21 of the clcat 21 and the outer surface .of the plate 19. The plate 19, at its rear face, has secured to it an extension 26 which is preferably made of sheet iron, this extension at its bottom being positioned immediately in front of the forward end of the plate 9 which forms the support for the electro-magnet 5. This extension 26 also has a finger 27 which is spaced from the rear surface of the plate '19 (see Figs. 1, 3 and 5) for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

The contact arm 23 has a contact lug 28 which is adapted at certain times to engage a contact screw 29 adjustably mounted on a post 30 which is positioned on the top of the base plate 1 but insulated therefrom. This post is electrically connected in series by a wire 31 with the electro-magnet 5 which in turn is connected by a wire 32 through the medium of a primary coil 33, battery, or generator 34 to a ground 35, said wire 32 also being in connection with a condenser 35 and ground 36 as is one of the well'known formsof wiring.

It will be considered that the plate 1 is also grounded and thereby completes the circuit with the battery 34 and generator. The secondary coil 3'? may be connected either to a spark plug or to a distributer to effect the explosions in the cylinders.

The opposite face of the standard 12 of the post 10 has secured to it a flat spring plate 38 of greater strength than the spring 18. This plate 38 has finger secured thereto. said finger having a swell portion 40 designed to be engaged by the portions 4 of the cam 4. The end 41 of the finger 39 is positioned in the space between the finger 17 and the plate 19. The tension of the spring plate 18 normally tends to move the arn'iature plate 19 and contact arm 23 into such position that contact point 28 will contact with the contacting spring 29 to close the circuit and thereby energize the magnet 5.

XVhen the magnet is energized, it attracts the armature plate 19 and this movement of the armature plate 19 causes the lip 21 to kick the lug 28 away from the contact screw 29 and thereby break the circuit. This breaking action is done against the ten 4 sion of the spring 18 and therefore as soon be noted that one of the p r ions 4 is i engagement with the swell 40 of the finger 39 and the end 41 of this finger 39 is held out of engagement with the finger 27 against the tension of the spring 38. Thus, the armature plate 39 is free to vibrate to create proper ignition during the explosion of one of the cylinders of the internal combustion engine which causes a movement of the shaft 8 due to the action of the engine, and thereby moves the cam into such position as to tree the swell 40 of the finger 39.

The action of the spring 88 upon the release of the finger 39 by the cam 4 is to strike and move the finger 27 and extension 26 toward the magnet 5, and since the extension 26, plate 19, and lip 21 are all connected together, the lip 21 will pull the contact arm and lug 28 out of engagen'ient with the contact screw 29. This absolutely insures the separation of the contact lug 28 and the contact screw 29 after each ignition. 1. his position is clearly shown in Fig. i.

The continued turning of the shaft 3 will cause another portion 4: of the cam 3 to move the finger 39 out of engagement with the finger 27. The spring 18 will then tend to move the armature plate 19 into its normal position so that the lug 28 will engage the contact screw 29, thus the armature will be vibrated due to the make and break of the current through the electro-magnet 5 and by the action of the spring plate 18. This action will continue until the earn t releases the finger 39, when the lug 28 and contact- 29 will be separated as above described.

The plate 9 which forms the support for the magnet and also serves as an additional pole, is adapted to extend within a groove 42 in the shaft 3. Thus, the plate 9 serves as a key to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft 3.

It will thus be noted that my invention includes in combination, magnetically operated means for making and breaking the circuit for the production of the ignition sparks and mechanical means, namely, the

cam l, finger 39, and spring 38 which insures the breaking of the circuit after the magnetic means has ceased its operation or during the dwell between the explosions of the cylinders.

Furthermore, it will be understood that a part of the mechanical means, namely, the cam l, also serves as a timer for determining the operation of the magnetic means by re-. leasing the armature 19 to the control of the spring 18, so that the ignition takes place at the proper time with respect to the cylinders. Thus, my invention presents the advantage of having the ignition under the control of a magnet and includes positive mechanically operated means for insuring the breaking of the contacts at the proper time and to prevent fusion which it is impossible to prevent when only the magnetic action is depended upon.

While I have described my invention as taking a particular form, it will be understooo that the various parts of my invention may be changed without departing from the spirit thereof, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise construction set forth, but consider that I am at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. A circuit breaker including an electromagnet, resilient means normally operative to close the circuit through the magnet to effect the breaking of said circuit after which the circuit both made and broken alternately by said resili nt means and said magnet, mechanically operated means, and additional resilient means normally held under tension by said mechanical means, said mechanical means being movable to periodically release the tension on said latter resilicnt means. said latter mentioned resilient means being of sutlicient strength that when thus released it will spring toward its normal position and in so doing will move said first resilient means to break and hold open the electric circuit, substantially as described.

A circuit breaker including means automatically operative to close the circuit, magnetic means operative against the action first means to break the circuit, means We to move and normally hold said first means to break the circuit independently of said magnetic means, and power driven mechanical means periodically operative to move said third mentioned means to permit the first-mentioned means to render the magnetic means operative, substantially as described.

3. A circuit breaker including an electromagnet, a cont ct member in circuit with the magnet, resiliently mounted means forming an armature for the magnet and adapted to normally form contact with said member to close the circuit th ough said magnet hereby causing the attraction of the armature by the magnet LO break the contact between the resiliently mounted means and said member, a second resilient means normally operative to move said first means out of contact with said member to break the circuit independently of said magnet, and mechanical means for moving and holding said second resilient means out of engagement 'ith said first means thereby permitting the latter to contact with said member, substantially as dewas:

close the circuit through said magnet thereby causingthe attraction of the armature by the magnet to break the contact between the resiliently mounted means and said member, a second. resilient means normally operative to move said first means out of contact with said member to break the circuit independently of said magnet, and a cam operative to move and hold said second means to tree said first means and permit the latter to move into contact with said member, substantially as described.

5. A circuit breaker including a supportin structure, an electro-magnet, a contact member in circuit with the magnet, a spring secured to said supporting structure and having a portion free to vibrate, an armature on said portion and adapted to be attracted by said magnet, contacting means normally moved by said spring into engage ment with said member to close the circuit through the magnet, second spring secured to said supporting structure and having a finger thereon free to vibrate, a second finger connected to said armature and having a portion spaced therefrom, said second spring being of greater strength than the first spring and normally movable into a position to move said contacting means out of engagement witl the contact member by engaging and moving said second finger, and mechanical means operative to move said first finger against the action of its spring into a position between the second finger and the armature permitting the latter to be moved by its spring into contact with the contact member to complete the circuit and to be moved by said magnet to break the circuit, said mechanical means being operative after a pre-determined time to tree the first finger and to permit its spring to move the contacting means out of contact with the contact member independently of the mag net and against the action of said first spring, substantially as described.

6. A circuit breaker including an electromagnet, a contact member, a supporting structure, a post pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and having a slot therein, binding means extending through said slot into the supporting structure whereby the post can be adjusted in various pivotal positions, an armature supported by said post and having contacting means for engagement with the contact member, substantially as described.

7. A circuit breaker including an electromag'net, a contact member, a supporting structure, a post pivotally mounted on said supporting structure, a spring secured to said post and having an armature free to vibrate thereon, contacting means supported by said spring and adapted to normally engage said contact member due to the action of said spring, a finger carried by said armature and having a portion spaced therefrom, a second spring supported on said post and having a finger thereon tree to vibrate between the first-mentioned finger and the armature, and normally operative by its spring to engage said first finger and thereby move said contacting means out of engagement With the contact member against the action of the first-mentioned spring, and mechanical means adapted to move said second-mentioned finger against the tension of its spring to free said first finger and permit the first-mentioned spring to move the contacting means into engagement with the contact member, substantially as described.

8. The combination of a supporting structure, a shaft rotatable therein and having a groove, a plate secured to said supporting structure and having a portion extending into said groove to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft, a magnet supported by said plate, an armature resiliently supported adjacentsaid magnet and having contacting means movable in conjunction therewith, a contact member in circuit with said magnet, a resiliently mounted finger adapted to move said armature to separate the contacting means from the contact member, and means carried by said shaft for moving said finger into a position to release said armature and permit it to move due to its resilient mounting to bring said contacting means into engagement with the contact member, substantially as described.

9. A circuit breaker including means automatically operative to close the circuit, magnetic means operative against the action of said first means to break the circuit, resilient means automatically operative to move and normally hold said first means to break the circuit independently or" said magnetic means, and mechanical means operative to move said resilient means away from said first mentioned means to render the magnetic means operative, substantially as described. 7 I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEWVIS T. RHOADES.

Witnesses:

MAE FITZGERALD, J osn DUGAN.

fiopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents,

Washington, 5. G, 

